If menopause symptoms are really impacting your life, there are so many things you can do to manage them. Our Health Coaches can help you with strategies for controlling your health in menopause: nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management, symptom control, and so much more.

All our HealthFix coaches are also Registered Dietitian Nutritionists with special training in menopause care. Learn more by listening in on this discussion with our coaching team: Director Stasi Kasianchuk and Coaches Jessica Gingrich and Katie Linville.

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Stasi Kasianchuk, Gennev’s Director of Health Coaching

So, thank you for joining. I am Stasi Kasianchuk Gennev’s Director of Health Coaching. I'm an exercise physiologist and registered dietitian, and very excited today to bring to you our two newest coaches. Our coaching team is expanding as our HealthFix program is expanding so really exciting during this time to be able to expand our reach to more women, to help them and support them during this time of their life. So today, in our webinar, we are going to talk about health coaching. We are going to talk about what we do and very excited to introduce both Katie and Jessica to you. So you can get to know them as well. So, Jessica I'd like you to introduce everyone, introduce yourself to everyone give us a little bit information on your background, who you are and what excites you about working as a coach for Gennev?

Jessica Gingrich Gennev Health Coach

Thanks, Stasi. It's great to be here. Hi everyone. I'm just kicking, right? I'm a registered dietitian and nutritionist. I'm located in Seattle, Washington, but I'm originally an East coaster. I grew up in Western New York and I went to college there. And my background actually started off in environmental studies, a little bit of green building education, a little bit of environmental marketing, which sounds funny to say, but yes, there's environmental marketing. And about maybe five years into that process, I realized it wasn't quite the right fit. And I took a step back and looked at life and thought, what is it that really excites me? What am I getting jazzed about on a regular basis? And I came to food and nutrition and helping people fuel their bodies with good food. And from there moved on to a master's program out in Seattle and stayed a West coaster ever since. So that's been really fantastic and I'm really excited to be part of the health fix team. And when I think about Gennev and what we're doing, what really excites me is that I've always loved working with women. I think that when women are empowered and when women have vitality, the effects just ripple down, ripple down to family, ripple down to friends, to the workplace. And I love that. I want to be the person who is helping other women be their best. And that's what I'm really excited about as I step into more coaching.

Stasi

Awesome. Well, we are so excited to have you as a part of our team and I as well share that mission. I think for, with all of us at Gennev everybody that works for the company, this mission to empower women and to shift the narrative around menopause and to support women in doing that. And we're going to do a better job at that if we all hold hands and do it together. So, so great to hear that you're that's where you're coming from as well. And with a diverse background having the environmental background, certainly add some insights and for, it would be a whole other webinar topic. If we talked about the connection between the environment and nutrition and health. So, we'll put that aside for today, but certainly know that that is a benefit also to your coaching and your knowledge base. So excellent. Well, Katie, I'd love for you to introduce yourself to our audience as well. And same question, what excites you about working here at Gennev?

Katie

Absolutely. So, I'm Katie, Linville registered dietitian health coach, and I have a strong clinical background. I started my work as a dietitian about eight years ago in the hospital setting. And I spent a good, almost five years in that setting. I ended up specializing in oncology for part of that time and loved being able to help others. And I think that's, that's part of my role as a dietitian. I love working with other people and the nutrition counseling piece really stood out to me as what I wanted to do on a longer term basis. And so I'm originally, I'm from Florida. So this is a big shift to come up here to Seattle. I've been up here for three years, so enjoying the amazing nature and everything that Seattle has to offer. And so, what I'm most excited to work at we're just in general about Gennev is just providing, having that relationship and providing accountability and support to clients. It's something I truly love doing and just making those connections.

Stasi

Yeah, that's great. And I think that's such a good point too, that having that connection, having that support and we're going to talk more about health coaching and we can get into that a little bit more, but I love how you pointed out that it's not just providing information, it's really the support and the implementation and that accountability that we all need accountability in life, we move forward a little bit easier when there's something holding us accountable. Awesome. Well, I will say too you know, with this timing for us on the West coast, we had an 8:45 start for this. So you may see us sipping on coffee or tea. It's just that time of the morning. So hopefully wherever you are, maybe you're enjoying your own, your own warm or cold beverage of your choice to depending on what time it is.

Well, let's jump into what health coaching is. All of us have backgrounds. We are registered dietitians and we have backgrounds that training, but we also have training in what's known as behavior change science and Katie, Jessica and I have actually worked together at another startup prior to this where we had extensive training and a lot of different areas, but one of the key things was really the coaching and the purpose of that. So we bring a lot to the table and I think it's important for our listeners and those that are thinking about having that coaching relationship to understand what it is that we do as coaches and the lens that we also bring as dietitian nutritionist. So, Katie, can you give your perspective, I'd love to just hear for you based on your experience what do you see the role of a health coach and in, in what health coaching is?

Katie

I think it's about meeting the person where they're at and really individualizing the coaching experience for the individual person. So I think, you know, my experience is working with several different people. Sometimes people are nervous coming in like, Oh, or they're going to just tell me exactly what I need to do and be disappointed when I don't do it. What is going to happen whenever I get on this call with a health coach? And what people have found is that, Oh, actually, okay, I can do this because we're talking about realistic goals and actions for me, based on what my motivations are and my aspirations. And so just making and individualizing that journey to me, I think that's the center of health coaching. That's such amendment providing accountability. Some people really value that. And so, and some people will maybe want a little bit less. So, it's, it's just very individualized, like I was saying.

Stasi

And that's such a good point too, that health coaching, it isn't necessarily that sometimes we think of coaching, we might jump to an athletic setting where there's the get on the line, run the sprints, no water until you've finished this. And that this is very different. This is the true essence of coaching of where, like you said, where is someone, where are they currently? Where do they want to go? And how can you as the coach support them in getting there successfully, knowing that there's going to be the ebbs and flows of life. And we're here to support for that, Jessica, what's your perspective based on your experience?

Jessica

Yes, I would mirror everything that Katie just said, of course. And for me health coaching, really, when I come at it from the background of being a dietitian nutrition, when you silo, it doesn't truly help the whole picture of the person. And so it's really all about taking that big step back and looking at what's going on in that individual's life from all the different perspectives, from work, from home, stress, sleep, all of those things that may be contributing in. And then on top of that, recognizing that there are seasons of life. And I think at Gennev that's particularly relevant because menopause is a season of life. It is not the entire time. It is a phase. It is a blooming and an ending process and really helping someone have that outside perspective. Well also individualizing it and saying, okay, here, I'm hearing everything that you're saying. We're going to focus on your goals in this moment and how you can best achieve them and piling, piling, piling, piling self-compassion on top of it. I joke that if, if dietitians of health coaches could be successful nagging and yelling at people, we would do it, but it's just not successful. It just doesn't work. And so, starting with a basis of self-compassion for yourself as the client, compassion, from my perspective to you, is going to make the entire process more successful.

Stasi

And that's that if I find specially working with women this idea of compassion and kindness and grace and giving that to ourselves is hard. And I'll be the first to admit it's hard for me some days too. And I think we have to recognize that there is a bigger cultural culture, that we're a part of that doesn't normalize that and having a coach to give you permission, or to remind you, to give yourself permission, to be kind to yourself is so key. I think maybe all women in life at least need a coach that reminds them of that compassion piece. Cause it's so easy to forget that.

Jessica

Absolutely. I was just going to say something, you know, this isn't a life partner worry. We are compassionate and friendly, but I like to draw a line. I'm not actually your friend. And so you don't owe me anything. You don't owe me any support back. So true. That also means I might ask you some unfriendly questions at times, make you sit in some discomfort, but what a joy it is to get on the phone with someone unload, right, unload, everything that you're feeling, have someone receive it, send it back to you, recraft it with you. And then you just hang up and you don't owe them a thing after that. You just owe yourself what you need.

Katie

Yes. I love that. And you mentioned the word joy and that just made me think of another piece of it is trying to find joy in the journey too. I think sometimes with all these goals we have in our minds, like, Oh, I've got to achieve this. We're not thinking about how we can do that and also enjoy the process. Sometimes it's a, I just have to do it for whatever reason, but it's not going to be fun or enjoyable. And that's another piece I like to focus on and bring in to this too. It's gotta be something you really like doing that you could see yourself doing. For example, I'm thinking of meal prep. Is that realistic for some people maybe, and maybe not others, but don't force yourself to do something that absolutely doesn't feel good to you. If that makes sense.

Stasi

Yeah, there, should we all, I should be doing this. I should be doing that. And, and that can become draining when there's a conflict and internal conflict about what you should be doing versus what you want to be doing. And that's where their coach can really provide some, some light on that. Shine a light on those and gets you to examine and reflect on that. And I love the joy piece key that especially right now, I mean, it's, we need, we need support and finding joy all of us and I actually had a client I talked to the other day and she had been, so I had been involved just watching the news. Like we all may be right now and happened to come upon a comedian that was now doing YouTube YouTube comedy shows. And she took advantage of watching those. And she said in that moment, she felt herself a laughing and she felt laughter. And she couldn't remember the last time she laughed that hard and it made her realize how important that is. And that's another area where a coach can say, when have you felt joy? When have you felt happiness? And when we look at the research around that joy and happiness and connection, they provide health benefits. Sometimes we forget that we think we need to eat vegetables, we need to exercise. We need to sleep and we should, we should, we, should we forget to step back and think, have I laughed lately? And there's some benefits there to that. So, thank you so much for that reminder, Katie.

Katie

Have you heard of Some Good News with John Krasinski?

Stasi

Oh yes.

Katie

And that just made me think of that.

Stasi

No, that's such a great resource to have just putting that on to counter all of the other noise that's coming in right now on a lot of main mainstream news media.

We did have a question that came in about what if I can't keep up with my goals. I feel like I'll let my coach down. And I think, you know, Jessica touched on this in terms of that friend boundary line and, and I feel like this might be sometimes a barrier for people embracing that coach relationship. Like just not ready to hit commit, because I don't know if I can do it and I don't want to disappoint anyone. Cause then that's hard to deal with Jessica. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Jessica

Yes, absolutely. I see when I'm, when I'm working with someone and they're struggling to get to the goal, I see two different pieces of this path. One is the goal is still right, but the action plan isn't working and that's really simple and straightforward, it's saying, okay, well, as Katie mentioned, meal prepping meal, prepping, isn't working for you. Okay. What are their alternatives? What could fit into place? What are the boundaries here? And that can feel really liberating to say, okay, it's not me. It's just, I'm just not on the right path yet. And that is something that I think really a coach can reinforce that just because of the first path you chose, isn't working doesn't mean you abandon ship, right? The goal is still right. So that's one side. The other side is the more emotional case that maybe I'm not ready. Maybe this isn't the right goal for me in my life. And that might be some of those more difficult conversations, the conversations where you're sitting in discomfort, trying to really look at what are my priorities in this moment. And that's hard to do by yourself. It's really hard to prioritize that time as a, as a busy mom, as a partner, as a worker, whatever you have, whatever balls you have in the air, that can be really challenging.

And so, I think coaching, you may feel like you're disappointing us if you're not coming in, but the disappointment for us is when you're disappointed when you're not feeling good. Yes. It's all about taking a step back and going, okay. Let's figure out what the problem is. First is the problem logistics, or is it a more of an emotional conflict? Like you mentioned Stasi and then moving forward from there. But what I be disappointed with is if someone weren't coming to me with a hundred percent honesty about what they were feeling, not that you're not achieving your goal.

Stasi

And we're here to listen and we listen without judgment. We listen with an open mind and acceptance. A lot of times I hear women apologize. I'm so sorry that I'm telling you this. I bet I'm the only one that tells you this. We work with women all week long and the menopause stories are similar. You're all in this together. Believe it or not. And there's no, there's no judgment on your journey. Everybody's journey is their own. And we're here to support you on your individual journey, important to remember well with Gennev’s mission to be around supporting women specifically in menopause. We've given a great overview of what we do as health coaches and what we're here to do, but let's dive in now to how we can take this to support women during this menopausal transition. And I'd like to put the disclaimer out there that we are all premenopausal.

So we have not experienced peri-menopause or post-menopause however I can speak for myself and that in working in the field of women's health and learning more about menopause, I am incredibly passionate about supporting women who are in this phase of feeling the best during their time of life. As a woman who will go through menopause. There's no reason that any of us should suffer in silence, feel unhappy or feel miserable. Menopause is a change. There's going to be things that are going to be uncomfortable, but as a woman, I'm an aging woman, you've already done uncomfortable things and it's okay to ask for support and this, and you will get through this and we're here to help. So I always like to put that out there. I have not, at this point in my life experienced a hot flash, I know the science behind hot flashes.

I know why they happen. So I can help you explain that and all of us can. But I want to just recognize that, but as we talk about these things, we're going to let you know how we can specifically support you as you're going through perimenopause and menopause. And if those of you are also premenopausal, we're happy to also support you on your health journey. I think there is a role for learning about menopause beforehand to empower women with knowledge so that when it does start when there, our bodies do start to change, we can recognize and know what to expect during that time. So Jessica, what are you, what's your perspective and based on your experience, life experience, work experience, how a health coach can specifically help women during the menopausal trans during the menopausal transition.

Jessica

Yeah, that's a great question. As Stasi mentioned, I am premenopausal. I did recently go through a body transition, right? I had a baby about two years ago. So this is as it Stasi mentioned when we were planning for this almost the exact opposite of menopause, but a body transition and one in which I became really aware of how society asks women to take the challenges that we have with our body changes with our very natural body changes and tuck them away, put them in the closet, try not to talk about them. Maybe, maybe you have a friend that you can discuss briefly with, but it's not something that's out and open. And for women going through menopause, approaching menopause, past menopause, the health coach experience can give you an outlet to have space to talk and the community to connect with, which I think is really crucial and important.

And it's not about me knowing how you're feeling. It's about me listening to how you're feeling and hearing what's happening in your life. Every woman is going to experience menopause differently. And so that's, I think an important thing to keep in mind when you think about my coaches doesn't know exactly what I'm going through. And that's because it's true, everyone is going through something a little bit different and we can help share what are the similarities that other women might be experiencing, helping normalize what you're going through in that moment. And just being present and therefore you in the process. And one thing I'd like to add in that, I think people don't understand from the back end of a coaching team is having other people on your team. Having Katie, having Stasi creates this just bigger coach brain that we can support you around. And with Gennev, you have your telehealth providers as well. And the what's going on behind the scenes is this amazing back and forth between the providers and the coaches and everyone in the company as a whole around how do we best support women. And that is pretty incredible. So, know that when you're speaking with one person, you're actually with about 45.

Stasi

Standing behind us. Yeah, no, that's such a good point. And I will point out that this is within HIPAA compliance privacy. So your identity is not is not disclosed, but it's more if there's things that come up because menopause is unique and there are situations, sometimes we do encounter that are unique to one woman or a couple of women, and we're able to then triage that and discuss together. Have you seen this before? What, what has helped other women that you've worked with and then reaching out to our telemedicine providers that consists of OB GYN across the country? As well as naturopathic doctors. So a very a broad base of that. And so really with the emphasis to provide the best support possible. Awesome. Katie, how about you? What do you think in terms of what's your perspective on supporting women during menopause, given your life experience and work experience?

Katie

Well, I really want to work to normalize menopause. I think that's much needed in our society as a whole, just, you know, I imagine getting to that time of perimenopause or menopause and just feeling like, what now? What is this? You know, why am I feeling this way? And just making resources and information more available, making it feel like a more normal experience, because, because it is like Stasi was saying, no, I haven't yet gone through menopause. I will in the future. And like Jessica, I also, you know, have gone through having a baby. I have a little baby boy who just turned one in the past two weeks. So experiencing all the, all the emotions that way and life changes and seeing how the media has thrown messages at postpartum women to expect to be a certain way, right. And you've got to lose weight quick, get the baby weight off, you know, here's, here's your plan.

Here's what to do. Here's what you should be doing and what you should look like. And so I've seen those messages thrown at me in that perspective, after going through a huge body change. And I imagine, you know, menopause as well, a lot of women are feeling that same way. You know, I should be doing this. I should be looking like that. And so, from my perspective, how can we normalize this, provide you accountability support and make this time in your life, a joyful one and not a time of burden and stress yeah

Stasi

And that exploration of what does that look like for you as the individual? This is an opportunity to reimagine what you want right now during this time of your life and challenge those thoughts that come up or those expectations that are, that are out there in our culture, around what aging women should look like what our bodies should look like, what, how we should feel and challenge whether that's really the truth and standing up for that. And that's where our, as coaches, we can, we can help you with that. Jessica mentioned when we were talking about health coaching, this idea of supporting you and also sitting with you in discomfort, I wonder Jessica, if you could go into that a little bit deeper so we can describe what that might be like for our audience, especially if someone's like, I don't want to be any more uncomfortable than I am right now.

Jessica

Yes. It can be challenging. Great. I'm going to be really upfront and honest with you. There's that phrase, the only way through a challenge is through a challenge, right? You can't go around it, you can't go under it. You can go above it, you have to go right through it. And that can sometimes mean coming to grips with how prioritization might be happening in your life. And for women, we have an incredible amount of balls in the year, and we've been sort of handed this cultural plate of, take care of it, right? Make it happen, run the house, do the business, have the kids don't have the kids, whatever it might be. That's sort of coming in and driving the message that you've been receiving. And with coaching and sitting in that discomfort, there may be moments where Katie or Stasi, or I ask a question about how important is that really to you.

And then we might say nothing for a whole minute. We might let that just sit for a minute and just get a little uncomfortable and a little sticky because when you get really uncomfortable, that's when those emotions might start to arise around what is most important to me? How am I experiencing this process? So that, that isn't every call let's be clear, right? This is maybe a moment or two in a couple of calls. And then the rest will be focused on moving forward on what's working. What, how your week has been going, any questions that you have. But there will be moments that come up in the process of coaching that really ask you to take a step back and look at what's happening. And those can be really pivotal in making the steps you want to make.

It's often that change comes through discomfort. It's similar to, if we, if we yelled at people, we would be very successful, right? If we could make change happen under the most joyful of circumstances, we'd be very successful people as well, but it often comes through a little bit of discomfort and a little bit of challenge.

Katie

That's exactly what I was thinking to Jessica about how sometimes in order to change, you do have to feel some discomfort in the process and that's okay, but it's working through that. And that's another reason your coach is there to support you.

Stasi

We had a great question that just came in and I think this is, this is very true to the generation of majority of women going through menopause right now, granted, we kind of go through and cohorts on, do we know there's an age associated, an age range associated with menopause? So this person submitted, I'm a generation of women where I'm I I'm of a generation where women do not speak about any of this. My grandmother and mother didn't share at all. I get very emotional at the thought of talking about these things. Will my coach be okay, working with me through this?

Jessica

Absolutely no hesitation. Yes. And my heart just sends out love and energy to this woman because that, you know, just to share through my own experience, my mother has passed away, but she did share with me before then much discomfort knowing that her mother never passed down information about what was normal and what she could be feeling.

And so, there was this gap of information that, that emerged in the process. And if you get on the phone call and the very first thing you do is say, I'm really, I'm scared about this and I might start crying. That's fantastic. Well, we'll sit together and we'll, we'll create that space. And I think, please know that that is absolutely okay.

Katie

Absolutely. I feel exactly the same sentiments that Jessica shared.

Stasi

Yeah. And we have a participant that said they too are of that generation. However, she is talking a lot about it and much to some people's dismay. And yes, that is true. You may make other people uncomfortable in these discussions, but it's not about other people, it's about what you need. And often I find that release. We can, if we keep everything up here, our brain works really hard and can perpetuate those stories.

We're telling ourselves, by letting things out emotionally, verbally there's a release and there's power in that. It's scary. It's uncomfortable to Jessica's point. But there's a reason where encouraging this and it's all part of this shift. And this holistic approach to supporting you in feeling your best during this time.

Katie

I think it makes a huge difference really, when you, when you can share and kind of get out of your mind a little bit and say things out loud. I mean, just even from personal experience, I think it makes a huge difference with processing and working through some of those thoughts you're having and also working toward any type of change you wanna make. So that's a really good call out.

Stasi

Yeah, no, I think it's important and I'll share you know, I've had coaches in the past for the same purpose.

I currently work with a therapist as well for the same purpose to be able to have that, that support. We all, we need that support role in this together and it's important that we're all doing our work well. The next thing you know, with thinking menopause, we have some questions coming in here also on different lifestyle strategies and one other thing, Katie, you mentioned the accountability that we can provide and, and also you being our research resource guru would love for you to talk about the combination of accountability and resources and how we can provide that to support women during,

Katie

Yeah, so accountability, it will look different for each and every person. That's something that as the coach I check in with, with the individual and say, okay, what what's gonna work best here. And some people don't know, and then I'll provide some ideas and guidance there too. And that's totally fine if you don't know what kind of accountability you want, but it could look like, okay, I'm going to check in with you this week. Let's check in and see how things are going. Let's do a weekly call. So that next week we can check back in on your goals and see how they're going. Some people would rather do less recurrent calls and that's totally fine as well. But we're happy to provide our recommendations too with, you know, what, you're just getting started on this while you're getting started, let's do a weekly call or every other week call so that we are checking in quite frequently on your goals.

As far as the resources go, we do have a lot of resources available and we're constantly working on them to, to get you the guidance you might need around. Well, Hey, I need some ideas for quick and easy meals that I can make. And we have like a list from trader Joe's, even for example, with a shopping guide or I need some ideas and support, you know, I just found out that I have I need to increase the calcium in my diet. How do I do that? We have a resource for that. Right? And so lots of resources in that way, but not just handouts like that, that we can mail email to you or, you know, add to your dashboard, but resources for websites and, you know, places to go and visit. We have a lot of knowledge and information around that. Does that answer your question, Stasi?

Stasi

Yeah, that's great. It's really, it's helping you do, there's a balance, right? There's, there's some things that you will need to do that you will need to work in this this coaching relationship, there is work on your part as the client, but there are things where the coach can do a little bit of that lifting so that there isn't as much work. We'd take down some of the barriers versus just anyone can just go to Google. And, but that can be very overwhelming when you put in, what foods should I eat for calcium? And then all of these lists come up and how do you know what's reputable? How do you know what's real? What's not, we can weed through some of that and help you cut to the chase in some ways, saving you time, saving you energy so that you can keep focusing on it.

Yep. What we've had as we're coming into the about the last 10 minutes, we did have the questions that came in via email beforehand. So, I want to go into those and just to remind our listeners, if you have additional questions, please feel free to send them in the chat, the Q&A, or a thread them on the Facebook live. And we did also have another comment that came in. That's she says I'm still struggling with the anger that I feel that women's experience in our culture has been suppressed and that's real. And that that's hard. But, and, and trying to get the help with this. And that's a place where our health coaches can be that listening ear. And then we can also provide, if there's a situation where we think there is a line, and we are able to identify that line as coaches, where we can be coaches and behavior change specialists and support you there.

And then we can also identify when, you know, what it may be a good idea to bring a therapist or a counselor psychologist, that mental health provider onto your team onto that team of individuals that are here to support you. And we can hold you accountable in finding that person. Sometimes it's doing research, finding that good fits. We can help you navigate what that might look for you. And also provide some suggestions potentially depending on where you live. We may have some resources that we can provide for you there. So again, taking some of that burden off some of those harder tasks but we are here to help with all of those things and support in that way.

Excellent. Well, one of the questions that came in this individual shared that they're 57 years old and suffering from multiple hot flashes during the day losing sleep because of night sweats. They stopped their periods a little over two years ago. So they're post-menopausal her sister has stage two breast cancer at age 52, before she reached menopause. And this individual's radiologist told her in no uncertain terms that she should take hormone replacement therapy because of her increased risk of cancer due to her sister, her gynecologist, however said that HRT would be safe and there's some conflicting medical information there. And she'd like our opinion. So, one thing I want to point out is that ne none of us are OB GYN and our telemedicine team would, Oh, it would always be the person that you'd work with when it comes to HRT.

So that's, and again, that collaboration where we can say sounds like what you're, what you're working through or you're interested in is hormone replacement therapy. Why don't you schedule with one of our telemedicine providers, they can really assess what that is for you. So, on the, the HRT side of things one thing to point out is that a radiologist, most likely is not trained in menopause. They are trained in radiology, and hopefully they're an expert in that because that's what they're doing. And that's what their job is. While they may have some knowledge, hormone replacement Therapy and just being in the medical field it's near impossible for any medical professional to be an expert in everything. We want them to be experts in what they do. And OB GYN that are trained in menopause have that expertise in hormone replacement therapy. And the approach that our telemedicine practitioners provide is that they listen to you, they review your personal health history and what your concerns are, and then they let you know your options. It's not an automatic. You have, if you have an appointment, you have to do HRT. You're able to get the, the pros and cons of HRT. And none of this is without risk. We need to be upfront and honest that each party does have risks, but there are some benefits. And through that conversation, you can weigh those pros and cons and be able to have a better understanding of that.

Any thoughts from you, Katie and Jessica, either on the HRT or, you know, from the hot flashes things that you can also consider lifestyle wise that might be able to help hot flashes as well.

Jessica

Yes. I'll jump in. Thank you, Stasi, for drawing that line. Both in terms of the difference between therapy and coaching, and also the line that exists between the coaches and our telehealth providers. And one thing that I think is important to recognize is that the coaches are here to help you make determinants on whether or not it's right to talk with a provider, whether it's nice to feel it out, but not necessarily the people that are here to review the risks themselves. That is a great conversation to have with those providers. As I think about this individual and, and what she's going through right now, this is where my mind pops to those resources that Katie was mentioning.

So, ideas around perhaps things that might be added to the bedroom to help cool her down at night. Well also if she's sharing the bed with someone else, make sure that that person isn't freezing all night long some strategies around what are things that can be brought into the world of the tooth living in right now, just to help along in that process. Right? So, the, those could be just quick, easy ideas to try as one option in terms of thinking about lifestyle changes and support.

Stasi

Excellent. Okay. Katie, do you have anything else to add to that when it comes to hot flashes?

Katie

Well, you know, just to touch again on provider role versus coach role that really made me think of how, you know, the provider, your doctor is providing the recommendation or the prescription. Your coach is helping you implement those recommendations and providing you guidance and support. So I think that is huge. And in general, there's so much that can be done for hot flashes. Luckily, I know too, there's a supplement that Gennev has to help with this as well. So luckily there's a lot you can do. And we want to hear your individual hot flash experience or your other experiences, so we can target realistically, what, what will work best for your lifestyle too?

Stasi

Oh, thank you. Yeah, lots of different approaches. And again, it comes back to that individuality. Another question came from someone that would like to know more about exercise and menopause. They've been doing some research on that HIIT and long slogs at the gym are not the way to go. They currently do Pilates two to three times per week. They want to add more weights and perhaps some cardio to their routine. They have creaky knees, they don't like running and they have asthma and that's hard with the breathing. And so trying to work on all this is a lot and they feel that it's depressing to do this. And then also facing the aging that's happening. They are, they are on bioidentical hormones that does help and they need to sort these out again. So another great question for our telemedicine provider in terms of those hormones can change over time. So being able to work with them on that and then they're, they're, they're tired of trying to figure this out. So there's a lot of things going on here, and I think that's common with what we see that it's never just one thing. It's a lot of different things that work together. Any thoughts, Katie and Jessica on that initially based off of, you know, what we know about helping women during menopause that have multiple factors that they're balancing.

Jessica

Yeah. I would start first off commending, the things that are being done right. There are steps being done here to support you. And that's fantastic and amazing. It might not mean that they're, you're a hundred percent where you want to be right, but let's celebrate those small wins along the way, recognize that you're doing incredible core and balance and strength work with your Pilates. And you have the right focus before moving forward with weight-based training. And this is one of those areas where having this team is fantastic, right? Stasi is an exercise guru. And so this would be an opportunity where I could provide some initial insights into here's some resources that might work well for you for adding in low impact strength training style. And I will get back next week with some more ideas and connect with Stasi around. This is, this is what we're focusing on right here. So just a little tidbit, a little insight in, we're not all experts in everything. And we use our resources on our end as well. So that I think is it would be my initial go-tos. And, and also just recognizing that keeping going is what it's all about to in this process. So, feeling frustrated, absolutely keep going with what you're doing, and we'll work through those ideas and start to incorporate in some new ones.

Katie

Yes. And that made just to add onto a part of what you were saying, Jessica, that made me think about how sometimes I'll work with someone and it's been a month, for example. And they're like, I don't feel like I've made any change at all this past month. And as a coach, I can reflect back to you the change that I've seen, even if it's small implementations you've made throughout. And then sometimes it's like, Oh yeah, wait, that is going better. Oh, I, I am making small changes here. And that's another role of the coach to reflect back to you, not only some of your thoughts and what you've shared, but then to what we've noticed with these little little wins or big, big, big ones that you're making. So just wanted to call that out too.

Stasi

Yeah, no, that's such a good point. And I think it all comes back to, to what is going to work for you.

You're absolutely, there's a lot of information on hit versus steady state cardio versus weight training and versus movement in general. And some people are excited about exercise. They like certain types of movements, others it's not as something that they enjoy. So we have to find what movement you enjoy. If you don't, if structured exercise doesn't feel right for you. So even with my exercise physiologist lens, where I can provide insight on you know, what is HIIT versus strength, training versus resistant, you know, different types of resistance training, and we can all collaborate on those. It's really going to come back to what works best for you as the individual, as something that you can maintain long-term right. One HIIT session or one long cardio session. There's no harm in that for one day, but if you're really looking to get the benefits of that, it is going to be that long-term sustainable plan.

And that's where we see people needing the support. So it's finding what's going to work best for you for your life at that time. And that might change over time as well. So great question. And I think the answer is that we would help you find the movement plan that helps you feel your best and be able to give you information on these other options that are out there and you can see, okay, what is going to fit for you? And then we can hold you accountable to that. Another question that came in and we're coming down to the end here. So one we'll answer these last two questions. Some of them might be combined. So how does nutrition help balance? My moods mood swings are the biggest challenge during menopause. And another question that came in about nutrition is do we have specialties, for example, with food allergies and then the perimenopause menopause, hormonal balance considered and accounted to with nutritional guidance. So I think we can touch on both of those in terms of where our expertise is, and then when we may recommend a referral. And then how does nutrition help during menopause with a lot of differences symptoms?

Katie

Well, speaking to how food can impact our mood or nutrition. So I'm actually, I get to teach a fun nutrition education class three times a week. We call it food and mood actually. And, and so there's a huge connection between our mental health and our diet actually. And that's not to say that changing things about your diet is going to fix all your problems by any means, but it's a supporting role. And whenever you're feeding yourself consistently and balancing and making, you're making sure your blood glucose, for example, your blood sugar that is steady state that can have a huge impact. I don't know if you've ever felt overly hungry because you lost track of time and didn't eat, or if you just didn't know what to make, cause you just didn't want to eat at all. But that, you know, feeding yourself in general with good balanced, nutritious foods can absolutely have a huge impact on our mental health. And I'm happy to go into more details in the future on a call with you. I know we're short on time though, but yes, absolutely. There's that connection. So I wanted to throw that in.

Stasi

Thank you, Katie.

Jessica

And I'll just add in as well. Katie nailed that. In terms of specialties I am a bit of a generalist right now, so I can support many aspects of what you're focusing on and in areas that may require a bit additional information. For example, Katie has expertise around cancer nutrition. That would be an area where I might reach out to someone for additional support. So from my perspective, I'm offering that broad scale health focus for the clients that I work with.

Katie

Yeah. I have eating disorder experience as well and working with women with depression and anxiety. So that's a huge piece. And you know, a lot of those mental health symptoms can come up during this time. And so absolutely I can provide support in that area too.

Stasi

And I think it's also with having worked with many clients over the years, given the experience that we all have collectively, we've seen a lot of different things. So back to the food allergies and intolerances, we do see that come up and digestion can change during menopause. So there are things that we can support you. It's going to be an individual approach. And again, if the approach that we use doesn't provide the outcome, the expectation, the outcome that's expected, then we can recommend, okay, this is where the higher level of care needs to be, but we can certainly start there. And when it comes to menopause, we are all trained in menopause. And so we use that lens when we're working with women during this phase of life around nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management anxiety, depression, all of these things, and they're all connected.

Like I said, they don't exist in silos, so we can definitely be helpful. One last point that I will just let people know, cause we had a question on, do I need an ongoing relationship with the coach or can I work with one as one-off as needed with our membership program or a subscription to health fix, you pay per month. And you can decide when, how, what that coaching relationship looks like. And that's something you talk about with your coach on the first call and it may change over time. So if you just want one call per month, one call every two months, that's okay. We also offer tech support in between the calls or if you want more of that ongoing connection, then the monthly the monthly subscription rate gives that as well. So, it really depends on what we find is that that might change over time.

So that's why we offer the monthly subscription and then we can flex around that relationship to make it best for you, knowing that there is going to be some things that change over this time. And we don't have to tell anyone in going through menopause that things change often, maybe minutes a minute. So true. Yes. Well thank you both for taking the time today. This is so great to collaborate and show our growing health fixed team of coaches. It's a pleasure to work with both of you and so excited to have you on this team. Any final thoughts on this topic that either of you have and, and how can our listeners schedule a call with you. If they're interested in working with you,

Katie

Sign up for health fix. If you're not already, that's at Gennev.com, we would love to work with you and please reach out to us. If you do need more guidance on doing that, we're happy to support you there. And I'm just excited to be here, excited to be working for the company and look forward to talking with you all in the future.

Jessica

Yes, absolutely. We are here and we, as a team are ready to support you. So, you know, if you're feeling a little unsure of who might be the best coach to work with schedule with one of us and get a call going and let's work it out, sometimes finding the right coach is a little bit like dating might take a date or two to figure out if we're the right match. And that's okay. We look forward to working through that and in the process might go, you know, I actually think Katie is really well suited for what you need. So you'll feel free to reach out to us. We are here and ready to support you.

Stasi

Our goal is to support you where you are. And we want to help you find that right fit. There's no, no offense taken. If you need to shop around a little bit or switch coaches throughout your, your time working with health fix, that's also an option. So flex able to be flexible during that time. And we look forward to working with all of you soon and supporting you during this time in your life. So we can change that conversation and normalize menopause.

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